Lynbrook Scouts Take Over Village Hall

Several Lynbrook Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops took on the roles of village trustees and department heads at last Monday's village board meeting, an annual event which helps educate scouts on their village government.

For a little less than one hour, scouts went through the board's agenda, calling on their fellow troop members to give reports and information about their particular job, as the village employee they were representing stood next to them.

Considering they were speaking in front of a large audience at Village Hall and with many more watching on Lynbrook TV, the scouts appeared confident and articulate when it was their turn at the microphone. Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick, a Scoutmaster for four years and a Cubmaster for 14, said he told the scouts not to be nervous and to just have a good time, adding that he thought the youngsters did a great job.

"They did very well," he said. "They try real hard and I think they do real well, from not knowing the names of all our employees and they're representing them … but I think for the short time they have the reports of the department heads, they do a good job."

Always a comic, Hendrick got a laugh from those in attendance when he asked the  scout representing Village Administrator John Giordano, "Are you sure? You're the one in charge of $32 million."

John Luke Fusco, a member of Boy Scout Troop #121 (out of Betheny Congregational Church), was tasked with the mayor's job, which included calling on all the other scouts to read the reports of their respective village worker.

"It was fun — it was a new experience for me," Fusco said, though he admitted he wouldn't want all the work and responsibilities of a village mayor. "I saw how difficult the job is, just what you have to be in charge of. The stacks of paper, I was like "He really has to do that?"

Village employees and board members resumed their responsibilities at around 9 p.m., .